The special NDPS court, on Monday, sentenced a Zambian national to 30 years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 2 lakh for smuggling drugs from Mumbai to South Africa.

The special NDPS court, on Monday, sentenced a Zambian national to 30 years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 2 lakh for smuggling drugs from Mumbai to South Africa.

Naney Tembo has been convicted on charges of contravention in relation to manufactured drugs and preparations and attempting to export drugs out of the country. The customs officials had arrested Tembo on December 22, 2008, for carrying 840gm of heroin. According to the prosecution, the officials had received a tip-off that a woman carrying drugs would be boarding an aircraft. Acting on the information, Tembo was detained. The officials did not find drugs in her luggage. On further questioning, she confessed that she was carrying drugs in her socks that were concealed under the top she was wearing. Tembo then handed over four socks, containing 77 tablets, to the police, following which she was arrested.

During interrogation, Tembo tried to misguide the investigating agency by saying that she got the socks from a man named Mike, whom she met through her sister Mimi. She claimed that she had agreed to deliver the parcel assuming that it was medicine. Tembo also said that she did the job for money to support her family. Subsequently, the agency found out that Tembo’s claims were false.

Public prosecutor Arun Gupte argued that Tembo was smuggling such a large quantity of heroin to Johannesburg. She had got the drugs from a friend in Delhi. She was about to take a flight from Mumbai when she was caught.